ABOUT MIKE

Mike sold his first drawing at the age of just 15 whilst growing up in Saddleworth, near Oldham. Despite his obvious artistic talent, the next 30 years saw him studying Architecture at Cambridge and Sheffield Universities and subsequently working in architectural conservation, sales, insurance,  equestrian supplies and even dealing in antique aircraft spares. In 2006 he finally decided enough was enough and went back to his childhood love of painting and drawing animals. It was no coincidence that his passion for heavy horses led to him immediately concentrating on horses.

In just five short years he has rapidly established his reputation as one of the North’s leading specialist horse and dog portrait artists, and his stall is now a familiar sight at Horse Trials and shows all over the North. In late 2011 he was invited to become Artist in Residence at Ripon Racecourse, and in 2012 will be releasing a series of limited edition prints featuring the course

ABOUT MIKE’S WORK

Mike, Harvey and a Bamford’s Lion Swath Turner

Finished work on Mike’s stand at Aintree Racecourse

Each portrait starts with the animal itself. Every horse or dog is unique, and only by seeing and studying each subject can Mike pick up on its individuality and character. He takes his own photographs (often up to 200 of each subject), using them in the same way as sketches, recording how each individual looks in different lights, and at different angles.

Only then when he’s sure he has all he needs, can he start to put an image down on paper. Mike has refined and developed his technique over the years, building up layer upon layer of colour, starting with Unison soft pastels (hand-made from the finest natural pigments in Northumberland) then adding pastel pencil (from Derwent in the Lake District and  Pitt & Carbothello imported from Germany) to give texture and fine detail. The colours used have been carefully selected for their ability to accurately represent the natural tones of a horse’s coat, as well as ensuring that the pigments are fully lightfast, so that the finished work will not fade.

He has recently started using a specialist pastel paper - Fisher 400, developed by pastel artist Tim Fisher from Leicestershire and is already hooked. The fine abrasive surface gives excellent colour saturation and holds multiple layers of pastel and pastel pencil without appearing dirty. Once complete, each portrait is given a protective coating of fixative; French, just to complete the cosmopolitan nature of his materials! Finally, the portrait is finished off with a double mount (professional white core so it doesn’t yellow with age) and then framed under glass using an antiqued pine moulding.

Whilst most of Mike’s work are head and neck studies, he will of course consider just about any subject, whether that be putting several animals together on the same work, or setting horses, dogs or the occasional bull in the landscape. He has also undertaken many jumping studies of horse and rider, including work for Yorkshire riders Paul Barker and Vicky Dennis. Take a look at his galleries for examples.